1939 has become known as Hollywood’s Golden Year due to its surfeit of
outstanding and beloved films that have stood the test of time. This day in
1939 marked another golden arrival: producer Pancho Kohner was born. The son of
legendary Mexican American actress Lupita Tovar (famed for the Spanish-language
1931 Dracula and still around at a
spry 105) and noted talent agent Paul Kohner, the brother of actress Susan
Kohner (Imitation of Life) and the
uncle of writer-directors Chris and Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), Pancho Kohner has been well-schooled
in the entertainment business. He wrote, directed and produced two movies in
the early 1970s (The Bridge in the
Jungle, from a novel by The Treasure
of the Sierra Madre author B. Traven, and
Mr. Sycamore, from a play by Ketti Frings) and got a close-up view of many
rich and powerful Hollywood titans while observing his well-connected dad at
work. As a producer, he is associated with two icons. For the family audience,
he shepherded many animated TV movies, a series and a 1998 live-action
theatrical feature centered on the beloved children’s book character Madeline, writer-illustrator Ludwig
Bemelmans’ precocious Parisian schoolgirl who solves mysteries and untangles
other people’s predicaments. For action fans, he produced 10 hard-charging
thrillers starring his friend and client Charles Bronson. One of their most
popular collaborations is Cannon Films’ 10 to
Midnight (1983), casting Bronson as an ornery cop who bridles in the
face of bureaucratic obstacles and legal technicalities that blunt his ability
to nail a serial killer who stalks his prey while nude and wearing latex gloves
so as to leave no evidentiary trace. Like Bronson’s previous Death Wish forays, it smacked of
overzealous vigilantism and murky questions of suspects’ rights but fans didn’t
mind because the righteous Bronson gets the job done. Twilight Time’s hi-def
Blu-ray of 10 to Midnight also gets the job done by including a
marvelously engaging Audio Commentary with producing honcho Kohner, casting
director John Crowther and film historian David Del Valle that covers the
film’s quick and efficient production (a mandate when working for Cannon) under frequent Bronson director J. Lee Thompson and
affectionate and revealing recollections of Bronson on and off the set. More
exciting Bronson titles, including another produced by 77-years-young Kohner,
will be unleashed by TT in the months ahead, promising more golden opportunities
for action junkies.